Page 9 of Compass Points
Luc seemed to assess his chances of making it to Bury without riding the bear that didn’t like him. Rose saw the moment he decided he didn’t have another option. Giving the bear a final distrustful glance, he swung himself up behind Rose. He paused for a second, hands hovering over Rose’s hips.
“Is this okay?” he asked, his body just shy of leaning against her back—his hands inches from each side of her waist.
She held in a shiver at his breath at her ear. She could almost feel the weight of his hands on her hips, though they didn’t yet touch her. Had it really been so long since someone’s arms had encircled her that she was reacting so foolishly? She tucked her chin and straightened her spine.
“Just hold on,” she said as the bear took off at a run.
Chapter Six
“No one told me that bears were fast,” Luc said after minutes of tearing through the forest. He held tight to Rose, his body pressing into hers as they continued at breakneck speed. His head in the crook of her neck sent chills down her spine as he spoke. Surely she was just anxious about the life-threatening situation they were plunging into.
“I’m glad you learned something today,” she shouted over her shoulder, moving her ear away from his lips. They were already back to the village, the mist flowing like a lake of shadows before them, leading down the path to a market square entirely covered by mist. They were too late.
“Hurry up, Arie!” She urged him forward. “Tara’s in there.”
“You said you already fought the mist, right?”Arie asked as he seemed to calculate their odds of not being impacted if they breached the thick barrier surrounding the village.
“Yes. We did. The mist took over my workshop, and we didn’t fall into an endless sleep.” She chanced a glance over her shoulder at Luc as she added more softly, “I think my weapons can fight it.” She tried to ignore Luc as she caught the smug upward tilt of his mouth out of the corner of her eye. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. We have to get to Tara.”
“Your weapons worked against it?”Arie sounded intrigued as he careened forward.“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. The mist is dangerous, and I can’t protect you.”
Rose didn’t have time to ponder that as Arie plunged through the wall of mist.
A familiar feeling encircled her as they dove into the mist, familiar magic, she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“Who is Tara?” Luc asked from behind her. His strong arms grasped her waist, his lips still dangerously close to her ear. She thought she heard genuine concern in his voice. Her body moved of its own accord, leaning back into his strength as she started to respond.
Her mind catching up with her body, she hesitated. Didn’t he try and attack her earlier?
This was a temporary truce for a likely fruitless mission if the thickness of the fog said anything about the village’s chances.
She sat straight, pulling away from him as rationality found its way back in.
“She’s…” Rose didn’t know how to finish the sentence. Her student? Her friend? Rose still wasn’t used to having them, with the exception of Arie. She responded factually. “I’ve been…training her. She lives in Bury, and I was supposed to meet her there this afternoon for another lesson.”
The guilt squeezed her chest, leaving little room to breathe.
“I know you’re spiraling. You need to stop,”Arie offered her mentally.
“You can’t read my thoughts,” she replied.
“He can’t?” asked Luc. “I’m sure this is not the right time, but that was one of my questions.” She focused on Luc. Maybe answering Luc’s questions would be just tedious enough to distract her as they searched the heavy mist.
“He can’t. I have to talk to him out loud, but he seems to initiate some mental connection with me so that the world doesn’t see a bear talking. Apparently, it’s fine for them to see me talking to myself.”
“What kind of magic is it? How are you bonded?” Luc asked.
“Oh, I don’t think we are. I think he just finds me entertaining.” Not a lie. The best she could do on short notice.
“So why doesn’t he want to link with me? Do you think he can?”
The bear snorted beneath them. She hadn’t even been aware bears could snort.
“I think he can. He just said he didn’t want to.”
“Because he doesn’t like Aterra? A god I’ve never seen?” Luc asked.
“That seemed to be the gist of it,” Rose replied.
